One of the reasons (read excuses) we are hearing from more and more international coaches is about fatigue, either through long seasons, crazy travel requirements or even ‘hotel fatigue’.

It is not a new topic and contrary to popular belief, it is not only limited to top, professional athletes either.

The purpose of the this column is to share experiences and studies I have done or attended in the past – not only to help you understand issues better, but also possibly to help you with your own training schedule and performance even if it is just with social groups or teams you are involved with, or perhaps a team or athletes you are coaching, or even if it is your son you are trying to help reach optimum levels of fitness and conditioning.

There are many things which contributes to burn-out or athletes not performing at their peak when it really counts. Also it is quite important in a contact sport like rugby where injuries are part and parcel of the sport.

The idea for any athlete or coach, at any level to adopt strategies and methods to limit risk, and in this case the risk of player burn-out, underperformance and injury.

Traditional training principles usually covers things we all already know. Things like intensity, frequency, periodisation and overload are all common in these theories and applications, but the one I want to discuss is ‘Dose-Response’ training.

It is best described in an analogy where when someone is sick, he will go to a doctor, the doctor will prescribe him medicine and the medicine will come with instructions on how to use and for how long.

The ‘Dose’ will be; ”Take 2 tablets twice a day for 5 days”. Now just in this you already have intensity, frequency and duration (some training principles). Now assuming the diagnosis and ‘Dose’ is right, the response (result) is you are cured from whatever you suffered from.

If you however deviate from the dose, only partial treatment is achieved and similarly, if you overdose there are other dangers that come into play – the ‘Dose-Response’ theory works in the same way.

The athlete is unfit, that is the ‘illness’. Training is the dose and performing at their or your potential is the response.

Now of course practically you need to assess your fitness and performance levels to ensure you are not ‘overdosing’ or training too little to achieve your desired results. This is more difficult to assess and will also differ from athlete to athlete as some might take longer to recover or rest than others, but can easily be judged or assessed if you keep a complete record of your training schedule and improvements as you go along.

Certain athletes will also put more emphasis on certain aspects of their body in respect to their position or characteristics of their sport and/or role in a team like a rugby team, so it is vital that you set benchmarks for yourself which is achievable, but also challenging.

(Position specific benchmarks for pro-rugby players is available on request)

Most importantly however is that you keep a detailed record of your training and performance over the period of your program.

Of course in setting goals you will need to ask yourself a couple of questions before you work out your schedule. Questions like these might include;

• If this is my training schedule over the next couple of months, what level of performance could I expect to achieve at that time?

• What training do I need to undertake to achieve a certain level of performance by a certain time?

• I need to peak on a certain date in the future. How should I plan my training to achieve this result?

• I have several competitions on various dates, how should I plan my training so as not to unduly compromise performance at any one of them?

• This has been my training schedule over the last several months. What will happen if I begin tapering now?

• In order to obtain optimum performance on a certain future date, when would be the best time to train hard, and when would it be wasteful?

Of course knowing what to do is quite difficult. Just saying I want to run 20km or be able to do 20 pull-up’s is not good enough – you need a more scientific approach and specific measure that has been devised is something called TRIMP (TRaining IMPulse). Here is some of the essential features to implement and follow the ‘Dose-Response’ theory;

• Regular training induces both fitness (which is good for performance) and fatigue (which is bad for performance). Of course, periods of no training cause both fitness and fatigue to decline.

• Good performance occurs when fitness is high and fatigue is low relative to each other.

• Fitness reacts more slowly than fatigue both when you train regularly and when you take a rest period. This, therefore, is the central principle around which an athlete’s training schedule is managed. Different athletes have different rates, which make things awkward for team training.

• To discern these rates for any individual requires a period of closely monitoring their training dosages and their performance levels. Analysis of the resultant data will yield these rates, but specialist software is required.

• Starting from an unfit state, heavy training initially produces a short-term decline in performance before improvements are seen.

• The time course for thorough adaptation stretches over several months, and a saturation level can be detected in many individuals after about five months.

• For optimal performance, a short period of abstaining from heavy training is essential. We know this as tapering and the resulting improvement we call peaking.

• Bouts of heavy training with longer rest periods between them seem to be better than training a lesser amount every day. Optimal performance is improved and the overtraining risk seems lessened.

• These ideas have been researched and proven in practice, but the effort required is not trivial. They have yet to produce a world champion!

To reach your peak at your desired time requires intense monitoring of training loads to ensure you are not under-prepared or unfit or that you over-extended yourself. The above however will give you a scientific base for monitoring and implementation.

The practical aspects of this should also be very clear. This means that you should;

• Develop a more scientific means of recording the volume of training that you undertake. (Position specific in-season, pre-season and off-season programs can also be requested)

• Keep this accurate and up-to-date.

• Use this to know when it’s been (or needs to be) heavy and know when it’s been (or needs to be) light. (You would usually have two different alternative training sequences or sessions which you could follow each day and depending on how your body recovered you can switch between the two.)

• Use it to plan both training sessions and rest intervals.

• Recognise that you cannot perform optimally week-in week-out.

• Recognise the importance of rest: between training sessions, just prior to competition events, and on occasions through the season.

So there you have it, maybe the ‘Dose-Response’ training method will help you, your team (or son) or just a social team you support, train and perform better – hey one of you might just become the next Bok coach and it’s my duty to help you prepare!

**The original theory and studies were tested and published by Prof R. Hugh Morton of the Massey University. The ‘Dose-Response’ theory was initially studied for individual athletes but through the courses I attended and materials now available it has been adapted to work in team sports like rugby. Additional references or material available on request.

228 Responses to The player burn-out issue

  • 181

    @grootblousmile – O shit, jy moenie die Bulle se song verder as 3 jaar terug vat nie. 🙂

  • 182

    172 @SA Barbarians – ‘n Pessimus sien altyd die slegste in die beste saak raak, die optimus sien altyd die beste in ‘n slegte saak raak. Elkeen van ons kies maar watter snare om in die lewe te speel.

  • 183

    @grootblousmile – Die meeste sense wat jy gepraat het in 45 jaar.

  • 184

    178 @grootblousmile – jy is ‘n man met vele talente, wannneer kom jou eerste digbundel uit ? 🙂

  • 185

    Bulle gaan die Kerriekoppie wen.
    AB’s gaan die TriNations wen.
    Dankie almal, sien julle more.
    G’nite.

  • 187

    As die BB en Ctahs wen, kan die log so lyk na saterdag:

    GKW 34
    Sharks 33
    WP 33
    BB 30
    Cthas 28
    Lions 26

    Dan kan dit interessant begin raak met die paar laaste rondtes

  • 188

    @grootblousmile – 178

    Het jy die Nuwelandse Harmoniese Simfonie verlede Saterdag gemis? Wikus Blaauw was die dirigent 🙂

  • 189

    185@Pietman – Hey yous, comes back to I, there’s a tail I wants to tell to you !

  • 190

    185 @Pietman – Pieta, ek hoop maar jy is verkeerd oor die AB’s, weet nie of hul 5 punte teen ons kan kry en teen die Aussies nie. Maar, ons het in 2004 die 3N so aan die einde gewen, so hul kan dit ook doen, aangesien albei tuisveld voordele is. As die AB’s dit regkry, dan gaan ‘choke’ ‘n lelike woord word vir die Bokke.

  • 191

    188@SA Barbarians – Nee, ek het net gesien Werner Kruger se obo was gebreek…

  • 192

    @grootblousmile
    Wat?
    Ek wil gaan le, dis midnite hieso.

  • 193

    188 @SA Barbarians – dink eerder dit was Luke deur sy muppet, Pro WP. 😉

  • 194

    188@SA Barbarians – So van Wikus Blaauw gepraat…. met daai skrumpet op lyk hy soos een van die karakters in Toy Story…

    Net sy mamma kan lief wees vir hom.

  • 195

    162 bdb, I agree….

    But in case you might need a change of strings for your acoustic try Elixir medium gauge: you will fall in love with your ghit all over again. Little bit heavier on the pocket, but man do those wound strings bounce. Best discovery I made in the last 12 months.

    But like SAB said, spoil yourself and buy all six strings. 😉

    Cheers folks!

  • 196

    192@Pietman – Ek mis my “partner in crime” hier oppie blog…. ons blog so op verskillende tye….

  • 197

    @bdb
    Check weervoorspelling vir Hamilton, dis n modderbad Saterdag, so reg in die AB’s se kraal.
    Hulle het nie vyf punte nodig teen ons nie, net 4.

    Solank hulle ons met meer as 14 punte wen, en die Ozzies ook met 14 klop minstens en n bonuspunt teen hulle kry, dan vat hulle die Tri op punteverskil.

  • 198

    195 @fender – goed gaan fender, dankie vir die musiek advies.

  • 199

    @grootblousmile
    Daai skrumpet word geborg deur Blaauws Transport op Upington, sy skrumbelt ook.
    Dis gemaak van ou Scania tyres.

  • 200

    @bdb – 182

    “‘n Pessimus sien altyd die slegste in die beste saak raak, die optimus sien altyd die beste in ‘n slegte saak raak. Elkeen van ons kies maar watter snare om in die lewe te speel.”

    Jy het vergeet van die derde kategorie – die realis.
    Die realis erken (en onthou)die goed en die sleg.

    My Staffie het altyd weg gekyk wanneer hy poep – gedink hy kan dit so uitwis uit sy en my geheues. 2008?

  • 201

    197@Pietman – ek tokkel maar weer op dieselfde snaar: as ons nie eers een bonuspunt kan kry nie, en die AB’s klop ons met meer as 14 punte, wel, dan is ons dalk nie sulke groot wêreldkampioene nie. ‘n Kampioenspan staan dadelik op, nadat hy platgeslaan is, en ek dink dit is wat die bokke gaan doen saterdag. AB’s gaan voluit kom die eerste 20, maar as ons dit kan afweer, dan gaan ons oorneem.

  • 202

    @SA Barbarians
    Jy moet hoop Debbie Smith lees nie daai 200 poep-post van jou nie!

  • 203

    @grootblousmile – 191 🙂

  • 204

    197@Pietman – Ek dink die All Blacks gaan omgesukkel wees….. hulle is gemotiveerd….

  • 205

    @grootblousmile – Ek dink die All Blacks gaan weer die 3N’s wen. Ek hoop maar ek is verkeerd.

  • 206

    Nee wag, julle klomp likkewane, ek gaan sleep, anders word dit weer ou nag.
    Tjorts, ek duik vir die pisvel.

  • 207

    Great article Morne. Thanks.

  • 208

    @Pietman – Nag Pietepedia. My dag begin en joune eindig.

  • 209

    200 @SA Barbarians – iemand soos Winston Churchill het so iets soos vier verkiesings verloor, voordat hy uiteindelik seker die belangrikste eerste minister geword het van GB, en sterk gestaan het in die 2W0. Moet ons nou heeltyd fokus op die verkiesingsneerlae of op die een wat werklik saakmaak, die een wat hy gewen het.

    Bulle het sleg gedoen in 2008, maar wat van 2005 en 2006 in semi’s, en 2007 en 2009 gewen. Hoeveel keer het die Stormers al die S14 gewen, terwyl jy nou so lekker uit die glaskas gooi? 😉

  • 210

    @Pietman – 206

    Pietman, Debbie sit vir jou en loer hier onder die Guests hehehehe

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